$35 Raspberry Pi computer goes on sale, promptly sells out

The highly-anticipated $35 Raspberry Pi micro computer went on sale today, just narrowly making the promised February launch window thanks to leap year. The device sold out within a matter of hours and prompted website owners to switch to a static site to help deal with the traffic.

The Raspberry Pi project has been six years in the making and it’s finally time for the development team to bear the fruits of their labor. Well, sort of. According to a post on their website, the units are still en route from China and headed to British companies Premier Farnell and RS Components who will be responsible for manufacturing and distribution.

Although there are two models of the Raspberry Pi computer in development, only the premium Model B was available for purchase today. Both configurations utilize a 700MHz ARM11 processor, HDMI and RCA outputs, a 3.5mm audio jack and an SD card slot. The cheaper Model A has been upgraded to 256MB of RAM and includes one USB 2.0 port. For $10 more, the Model B affords an extra USB port and an Ethernet jack – worthwhile upgrades in our opinion.

If you weren’t able to get your order in for the Model B today, just hang tight as co-founder Eben Upton tells CNN that the cheaper Model A unit will be going into production within the next several weeks. Those interested in up-to-the-minute updates can follow @Raspberry_Pi on Twitter where the team is doing a great job communicating with the public.